Kixeye answers Rumble Games: 'Launch a game and then we can talk'

When social games maker Rumble Games' lead designer and co-founder John Yoo lumped Kixeye in with Kabam and Zynga for producing "the same game over and over," Will Harbin, CEO and founder of the Backyard Monsters maker, was not amused. Frankly, Harbin thinks that Yoo spoke prematurely, especially when the only evidence of the company's work is a single image.

"I think it's mostly a lot of smack talk. My advice to them is, very simply, get ready for school," Harbin tells us. "They're gonna learn a lot, and I think it's quite dangerous to talk a big game when you don't even have a game out. I do take a bit of offense to being lumped in with Kabam and Zynga for our games not being immersive and doing the same thing."

As for why Kixeye was named specifically in the interview with Business Insider, Harbin can only guess. "They're simply either just trying to create some controversy, or they truly don't understand our games nor have they played them. Battle Pirates is the only MMORTS [massively multiplayer real-time strategy game] in existence on any platform that's of any worth or merit in terms of usage and engagement. It's the first synchronous RTS of its kind, and we're very proud of that."

Harbin tell us that Battle Pirates, the studio's most recent strategy game on Facebook, is gearing up for its global public launch in March. However, the company has plans to release several new games across multiple genres ranging from role-playing games (RPG) to racing simulators, three of which will launch in 2012. The first of those three is an RPG that will lay the groundwork for a larger MMO (massively multiplayer online game) slated for 2013.

"Some people might say, 'Oh, we're just doing the same thing,' [but] who cares as long as the users are enjoying it? Again, we don't see us as doing the same thing," Harbin tells us. "We're attacking multiple genres. You criticize us for that, then you can criticize EA, Blizzard, Activision and all of the guys for the same thing. There are only so many genres that have proven to work time and time again, and it's based on what consumers want. Well, we're gonna give them what they want."

Have you ever played Kixeye's games before? Do you think they're more of the same or not as immersive as what other companies tout? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.